Ward Assistant Review

I was an assistant on a an elderly patients ward. My main role was to assist the patients by feeding them, fetching things for them, and being there as someone to talk to. I also helped the nurses with admin and interviewed some of the patients using an NHS questionaire.

I improved my communication skills through spending a lot of time talking to patients that had difficulty understanding normal speech and through passing messages between nurses. I also learnt a lot about how a ward is run.

It was difficult at times working in close proximity with people that were ill. However overall I enjoyed the experience as I felt I made a difference to a lot of people.

At times I felt like the nurses had too much to do to instruct me so I didn't always have something to do, however overall I feel I made things easier for the nurses and helped a lot of the patients, and both thanked me for my help.

As this was a voluntary role, there was little structure to my work experience - instead I was placed on the ward and was under the instruction of the staff on that ward.

I felt well supported as the nurses were friendly and made me feel able to ask them questions. They were also careful to answer my questions clearly. However as they were often very busy, I often felt I could not waste their time with my questions.

The support I received was through the staff on the ward (see above).

As this was a voluntary role, there was no salary.

I did not look for other opportunities as this was a short-term work experience role.

Yes

It is arguably the most important organisation in Britain and there are many different types of opportunities available. I felt that my work there made a real difference to both the NHS staff and the patients there.

The easiest way to secure a place is through voluntary services. Vacancies open up all the time so keep reapplying if you are not successful the first time around. You can also email the wards directly, and it can help to have a contact within the NHS beforehand.